Photo credit: Mitchell Layton

After letting the Jets steal two points on Friday, the Washington Capitals direly needed a win against the Minnesota Wild to keep them off the golf course come April 8th. Aware of this fact, the Capitals played a smart game– even after getting the lead.

A little over 30 minutes in, Alex Semin accelerated into the Wild zone and set up Jason Chimera for a smart opening goal. Mathieu Perreault crashed the net for a goal on an undeserved power play. Alex Ovechkin did the Alex Ovechkin thing in the third. Caps beat Wild 3-0.

• For a while it seemed like this game would be a tightly reffed affair, which probably would have been good news for the Caps if they could have mustered more than one shot on goal in their first two PP opportunities.
• Under the rules of our The-Universe-Hates-the-Caps theory, a puck that goes over the glass after hitting Mike Knuble’s stick does not yield a power play. But it happened and now we must assimilate new information into our unified theory of everything. That PP led to Perreault’s goal, which makes it a doubly tough break for the Wild, but mistakes will happen in this sport as long as it is ref’d by humans. Or until there’s a coach’s challenge.
• Unless you’re muting NBC (in which case, nice!), you’ve heard someone compare Braden Holtby to Ron Hextall. They’re both eccentric goalies who have played in PA, but at this point in Holtby’s career the comparison is absurd. We love love love Braden, but he’s still a little, pink, newborn pup in the NHL. Even with the excellence tongiht, let’s hold off on the Hextall chatter … unless we’re trying to deal him in the offseason.
• Uber alles, good goaltending wins games. Holtby gave the Caps that tonight, including pulling some crease-clearing barbarian moves that got Verizon Center cheering. 28 saves and the third career shutout for the kid from Saskatchewan.
• Unleashing the fury is one Alex Ovechkin, riding a five-game scoring streak on another classic Ovi goal. Add to that his crucial secondary assist on Perry’s PPG, and you’ve got another great multi-point game from the Captain. Add to that a brilliant check to stop a shorthanded chance, and you’ve got good stuff on both ends of the ice. We will just skip the part about that one turnover in front of Holtby.
• Ululations about his decline aside, Alex Ovechkin is now 4th in the NHL in goals scored.  He’s tied with Phil Kessel, which has a sort of poetic symmetry to it.
• Usually the Capitals play conservative with a two-goal lead. The “prevent defense”, which is about as effective as the rhythm method contraception, was thankfully absent tonight.
• Uhh.. were they chanting HOLTBY or OVI at the end there?
• Calling this game a must-win was apt. The Capitals are back in 8th place, and Tuesday’s opponent, the Buffalo Sabres, held out of the playoffs due to the tiebreaker.  So I guess Tuesday is a must-win as well. They’re all must-wins. Whatever, we’ve been calling games must-win since November. We were doing it when it was still underground, but now it’s all trendy.
• Kick back and enjoy the rest of your Sunday night. Your Caps won. Mix up a sidecar, put on your most comfy slimline suit and skinny tie, smoke a billion cigarettes, and watch Mad Men. Take it easy. You earned it.

Bailamos!

No Joe B pic tonight. This game was on NBC Sports, so while it had Doc Emrick’s capable play-by-play work, it lacked the intelligence and non-dick-ish-ness of a CSN broadcast. Call us whiners if you want. I think we just have good taste in TV.

See you on Tuesday. Sabres. Must win. Crash the net.

Photo credit: Bruce Bennett

The final game of the Washington Capitals’ ginormous road trip was a Thursday night date with the pylon-clad Philadelphia Flyers. Just like last game, the Caps came out hard, but faced a much more composed foe.

Alex Ovechkin was in hurry, scoring in the game’s first minute. Claude Giroux converted a breakaway in the second. Overtime came and went.  A coin was flipped, and the Caps lost. Flyers beat Caps 2-1 (shootout).

• As Claude Giroux broke away from a falling Dennis Wideman, Braden Holtby skated out of his crease for a poke check. It was aggressive move on the order of Ron Hextall, to whom Holtby so often gets compared. But Hextall is a legendary goalie and Holtby is still a minor-leaguer. The poke failed, and Claude had a yawning net to fill. Other than that, Holtby was a solid presence in net. 30 saves on 31 shots.
• Alex Ovechkin didn’t need half a minute to score. He’s on a three-game goal streak with 6 goals in his last 5 games. Down the stretch, there is no better asset for this team. He’s playing smart hockey too, not just bullying his way into the zone only to get pushed aside. He fired 6 shots.
• Marcus Johansson drew a crucial penalty shot in the second period. He seemed to have Ilya Bryzgalov deked, but the goalie got a stick out to end the play. It was a good poke check, but wasn’t it also a trip? Shouldn’t that have been a do-over? How does that work? Reader, please consult the NHL rulebook and provide us the booklearnin’ we so desperately need.
• Is Lenny Kravitz really Cinna? How does that happen?
• Bad luck happens. Despite tons of opportunities, the Caps got robbed over and over. Consider Mathieu Perreault ringing iron, Ovi getting robbed glove-side and then going wide on an open net a little later, and Aucoin buzzing up in front like a malarial insect. Can’t bury ‘em all– but this game would’ve been a cakewalk if only the margins had shifted a bit.
• Compulsory Jaromir-Jagr-got-an-assist bullet. Hurl.
• Happy birthday, Tom Poti, who is technically still a Washington Capital. Remember that time he was awesome in the playoffs? Le sigh.
• The Caps were so meek and reserved during the back half of this game, you’d think they were auditioning for a walk-on role in My So-Called Life. That defensive posture may have made it tough for them to create offense in OT, which is why they spent the whole extra frame in their own zone, desperately waving away the Flyer attacks as if they were swarming tracker jackers.
• Matt Hendricks in the shootout. Like mom’s apple pie, except bad ass.

Joe B suit of the night

The Caps are still in 8th place in the East, a point above any kind of virtual tie with Buffalo. They are just three points behind Ottawa now. 7th place would be pretty cozy, wouldn’t it?

That’s the end of the road trip. They took 5 points out of 10, which is way better than we predicted a few weeks ago. A win in Philly would have been a huge confidence booster though…

The Caps are a desperate team, and desperation grants focus. Their desire, nay– their hunger for standings points drove the team to play a great first period. But the retreated in the third, playing for the tie in highly unsatisfying fashion.

If only they’d embraced that hunger for the full 60, they’d be the victors.

Catch you guys tomorrow night. The Caps return home to whip the Jets. Huge game.

COME TO OUR PARTY! APRIL 7 AT FRONT PAGE! AAAAAAARGGHHHH!

“I call him fat #$%&* and 10 days later he fired.” (Photo credit: Patrick McDermott)

It’s okay. We understand.

Not everyone was a Capitals fan in the 1990′s. Some of you weren’t even alive. You’re not expected or required to know the ins and outs of Bonzai, Langway, Hunter, and Chris Simon (who Peter stubbornly demands be included in Mt. Capsmore). When you heard that the Caps named Dale Hunter their newest head coach, you might’ve said something like, “That name sounds familiar.”

It’s O.K.

There are lots of good descriptions of Coach Hunter out there already– articles telling the achievements of a hard-nosed Cap with as much talent leveling hits as scoring goals, his number’s retirement and ascent to Verizon Center’s rafters, and his last decade serving as head coach and owner of the OHL’s London Knights.

We’ve prepared a multimedia crash course designed to show you — not tell you– everything you need to know about Dale Hunter.

April 16, 1988: Hunter Beats Hextall

Goal begins at 7:30.

The Capitals’ 1987 postseason ended in an event our parents call the Easter Epic. The Caps went to 4 OTs before losing Game 7 to the Islanders. Redemption came for the Capitals one year later, when Dale Hunter– in his first year with the Caps– completed a dramatic comeback by scoring on goalie Ron Hextall in overtime. Stunned by the win, Washington Post columnist Tony Kornheiser wrote, “. . . nobody can call the Capitals chokers anymore.” And no one ever did. Unless you count Tony Kornheiser, who would do so with frequency over the next 25 years.

November 27, 1992: Hunter Fights Ulf Samuelsson, Breaks Ulf’s Cheekbone

Almost twenty years before Brent Johnson and Rick DiPietro, Dale Hunter made facial bone breaks cool in this bout with Ulf Samuelsson. At the time, Ulf was part of Mario Lemieux’s hit squad, and he had already obliterated Cam Neely’s knee, so don’t feel too bad for the guy. When Alan May watches this video, it’s basically the ending to 300.

April 28, 1993: Dale Hunter Blindsides Pierre Turgeon

The 1993 Patrick Division Semifinals between the Capitals and Islanders found Hunter leading Washington with eight postseason goals. After the buzzer blared for Pierre Turgeon– and NYI’s fifth goal of the game, Dale Hunter checked him into the boards. The blindside hit left Turgeon with a separated shoulder, forcing him to miss all but one of the Isles’ remaining playoff games. Gary Bettman, in his first year as NHL commissioner, suspended Hunter for the first 21 games of the 1993-94 season, which — at the time — was the longest suspension in league history.

June 4, 1998: Juneau Sends Caps to Finals; Hunter Touches Prince of Wales Trophy

Hunter came closest to the Cup as part of the storied ’98 Caps. Capped off by Joe Juneau’s goal, Washington felled Buffalo in 6 games, but promptly got swept by the Detroit Red Wings in the finals. Hunter left the Caps the next year, ending his career in 1999 with the Colorado Avalanche. If he could have stuck around another two years, he could have hoisted the cup with Ray Bourque. Instead, this moment with the Prince of Wales Trophy (the jinxiest jinx up until Russians started painting oil paintings) is the closest he came to the big prize. For now at least.

Just for kicks, here are some more fun Dale Hunter videos:

Hunter puts Kjell Samuelsson’s Head Through the Glass

Hunter Comes to the Aid of Mike Gartner; Destroys Tony Granato

Hunter Sends the Flyers’ Josef Beranek into the Caps Bench

The Caps’ “Capital Feeling” Music Video

Can you spot Alan May?

Photo credit: Chris Gordon

A 24-year-old Mike Knuble, then a promising forward prospect, played nine games for the Detroit Red Wings during the 1996-97 season.

Players who were still playing during Knuble’s first season in the NHL include Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Patrick Roy, Dominik Hasek, Steve Yzerman, Brett Hull, Mark Messier, Dino Ciccarelli, Brian Leetch, Grant Fuhr, and Ron Hextall.

Just days after Knuble’s first game, Phil Collins announced that he was leaving Genesis to focus on his solo career, M.C. Hammer wasn’t yet bankrupt, and it would be months before The Daily Show debuts on Comedy Central.

I guess what I am trying to say is Knuble is old getting up there in years, but don’t tell him that.

“I’m out there playing for another deal,” he said. “I’m not riding off into the sunset. I want to make that point clear to everybody. This is no farewell song.”

I agree with him, but it is one of the last tracks on a darn good Greatest Hits album.

Players like Knuble who are productive over the age of 35 tend to keep their production rates in the league relatively stable as they age. Knuble was also a late bloomer: He had averaged eight goals per season his first three years and has almost tripled that production in his last three.

Using wingers who played at 39 years old post-lockout, we can make an educated guess on Knuble’s production for 2011-12. I will caution you that the entire player pool from which to draw from is limited, containing only Bill Guerin, Brendan Shanahan, Mark Recchi, and Teemu Selanne.

Using these players as a guide, we can speculate that Knuble will play 75 games, score 34 points (21 G and 13A) while taking 188 shots on goal.

Here are some probabilities for goals and point scored:

“It’s going to be a challenging year, definitely, with more competition,” cautioned Knuble. “Nothing is guaranteed.”

We couldn’t agree more.